With Spring League done, Manziel’s wait-and-see game continues

Quarterback Johnny Manziel finished up his two-game stint in The Spring League on Thursday evening, his South team falling 34-17 to the West squad. Manziel’s numbers were, however, much improved over last Saturday’s performance: 10 of 16 passing for 188 yards as well as 27 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground.

Manziel is now expected to wait and see if an NFL offer materializes. His CFL rights are owned by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and while the team has a mini-camp scheduled for the end of April, CFL training camps don’t officially open until May 20 with rookies reporting a few days before.

“I’m straight back to working out and doing what I did when I came here,” Manziel said after the game. “Everything else will sort itself out. I’m trying to do what I can do to come back to playing football whatever capacity that is.

“We know when deadlines are. We have another month or so to work out and not worry about anything.”

60 Comments on With Spring League done, Manziel’s wait-and-see game continues

My guess is it’s probably mainly a cost thing. I dont imagine the Spring League makes much revenue at all, beyond the $500 or whatever it is each player pays to be there. They have the rent the stadium, pay coaches, rent equipment for players plus pay staff expenses, online streaming broadcasts etc, there’s probably insurance involved, etc. Stretching it out further either makes it not feasible or results in them jacking up the cost per participant. Plus players may not want to commit to a 2-3 month long “training camp” that could result in nothing for their career. Seeing as the number of guys who have signed as a result of this league, that would make sense.

Good thoughts…..guess I know where your handle comes from MoneyTeam! I was just thinking with all the sunk costs you speak of….another game our two would actually lower unit cost? Hahhaa
Plus…two games? Gotta do at least four to give a legit look….but to your point…..most of these guys are likely stiffs….hard to tell with so little fame action?
Clearly it isn’t worth it…..or they would be doing it.

I think I read previously that of all the players they had play over the past 2 years, only 7 of them signed with a pro team and I think only 1 of those players actually made a roster. Rest were released or played in CFL. Jalen Saunders was one of them.

My personal opinion is it’s a waste of time, and agree that only 2 games over like 3 weeks or whatever is hardly enough time for a solid evaluation on likely fringe players, if that. Plus given that talent as a whole isn’t really up to snuff, how much stock do you put in the overall performance? Manziel included. Did he shred poor defences last night?

It’s nice to see that the kid seems to have gotten his act together. Whether he winds up in the NFL, CFL or Vince McMahon’s wrestling league is irrelevant compared to the self destructive path he was on in recent years.

I’m a huge Cats fan. At first I wanted Hamilton to avoid this guy like the plague now I think they should sign him but only at $150 K original offer or a little bit more. Not the end of the world if he doesn’t pan out. Cats still have Massoli. Keeping his big mouth shut and his agent silent would be imperative. Hamilton doesn’t need to bring a circus to town.

I think it would be impossible from keeping the “circus coming to town” if Manziel signs with the Tiger-Cats. I dread that happening. I would expect a lot of American media outlets writing a lot of unflattering things about the city.

The circus would definitely come, and I do think it would be a good thing. More rev for the team/league, more attention.

There are a lot of really, really crap cities in the USA who have pro teams, and people who cover those teams dont just sit and write unflattering things in their articles. The news isnt the city of Hamilton plus it’s infrastructure, it’s Manziel. I would also hope his PR team would have him coached up to say nice things about the city as well. Maybe he could even help in that regard?

Well, Moneyman, there are two things that you are not getting. First of all, where would your claimed “more revenue for the team/league” come from? Cats already sell out. Us networks spill more in the booth than what they pay to carry CFL games. And, finally, most scribes from south of the 49th think it is fashionable to slag everything/anything, and any city, that isn’t made in the USA…not withstanding their own backwater cities like Buffalo.

Was just putting two and two together. More coverage in CAN/USA would likely cause an increase in league attention and thus sales, in simple terms. Could be in merch, could be season tickets, possible other minor broadcast deals. Remains to be seen. But I think you’d be hard pressed to say all kinds of extra TV cameras on Ticats/CFL would be a bad thing in the rev department.

Hamilton may not get away unscathed in the US media, but not sure the writers really want to write too much garbage about Hamilton when their readers really dont give AF about the city, they want to read about Manziel. BUF/DET/PIT/BAL would be similar US cities, we don’t tend to hear about how crappy they are every time someone writes an article about their teams.

DAKAZ what a dark and distorted view of the revenues. Money team is 100% right. Whatever is not sold out will be in Hamilton. Look at the bigger picture for CFL. All teams do not sell out. The teams with the highest attendance have to contribute to teams with less fan revenue. Every team benefits. Manziel has :2 million followers. There will be increase in media revenues which translates in more revenue for the teams. TSN benefits. Where is the dark negative side?

Only the excites States follow the screwed-up JM. I will not be buying extra tickets because he is coming to town. And, even if he is a curiosity, it will be short-lived. Even if he does have a good start, how will that help the networks draw fans? He would have to be SUPER, SUPER STAR-STAR, and that won’t happen.

Finally someone like money team understands what someone like Johnny Manziel brings to a team and the CFL. Yes I would like him to get involved in the community. The media media impressions turned into huge revenues at Texas A&M. He should work on getting the younger generation interested in football. If he showed up to highly school to talk about bipolar the media follows him and it would be highlighted in Canada and the USA. There is a lot of good he can do and I believe will do if he comes up.

All of you guys out there who think JM could somehow benefit young people, please tell me if you would want him dating your daughter?
He has a lot more to live down than just his lazy attitude toward his game.

All I am going to say is the guy has def made some mistakes as a young, immature man and is clearly going through a recovery process and trying to right his life. If youre a person who shames people for life who transgressed and went to rehab to fix themselves and improve their life and are recovering then you know what, I am sure there’s lots of people who wouldnt want someone like you dating their daughter…

Money, you are a complete I D I O T !!!! Yes, people deserve a chance to turn their lives around. But, they do that FIRST, before they get embraced as role models, or favorite players, or get involved with youth.
Other than his declaration that he has changed, he needs to prove same. Do you know why some battered wives wind up dead? Because their abusing husbands apologize, promise it won’t happen again, and then repeat their crime, until, finally, their rage winds up in the loss of life. And, then society sits back in judgement, and asks why the spouse was so stupid to stay with the abuser.
Whether he was an abuser, or not, is totally irrelevant. The fact is: he had a substance abuse problem. He needs to show that he has turned around.

What makes you think he hasnt turned his life around? He acknowledged his issue, entered a rehab facility, is currently dealing/battling with his addiction and is (allegedly) sober. He sought medical help and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and is on medication, and is seemingly working his butt off to find employment and be a productive member of society. As of right now, its the start of a fantastic turnaround story. He has done nothing to make anyone think he’s about to fall off the wagon again. Could it happen? Sure it could. But hardly from a foregone conclusion that should result in your terrible attitude.

Beyond that, this isn’t a “battered wives” situation. An incident happened and he paid the price and served his sentence. Can anyone say 100% that it won’t happen again? Again, nope. But when the guy is doing everything he is supposed to do to fix his life and people like you hate on him like he’s the Zodiac Killer then that’s a bit much. Manziel (and others in recovery) needs support. Not people like you beating him down when he is trying to get back up.

I’ll use your analogy again – “if this was your daughter, would you treat her this way?”

Johnny doesn’t bring the media to town. They follow him wherever he goes. Huge media attention good free advertising for cfl. TSN just one of the media outlets will benefit vas will cfl revenues. So let’s hope he comes.

on above comments…. Since when do Canadians take pleasure in other peoples misfortunes? I thought Germans do that which is why English appropriated the word Schadenfreude… Cats fans dont seem to understand how much money John made [email protected] in 2 years. ..The best way to describe talent levels is the College Shrine all star game due to short practice time.

Fact..only the kicker for John’s team had no previous NFL experience in the Spring league. And he played pro soccer in Italy…. Everyone of John,s 1.8 million Twitter followers will watch his cfl games on ESPN 3 and if 1% buy Jersys that us 18,000 unit sales at current list price of CAD 190 or 3,429,000 CAD…think about it people

Kyle, you don’t seriously think that 1% of people will buy the jerseys of a disgraced player who plays for a team outside of the excited States…and pay for what could be nothing more than a cameo appearance. Do you?
Your cart is so far ahead of the horse, that the poor horse will not live long enough to catch up, even if the carts’wheels fall off.

DAKAZ. So when Johnny Manziel should he come to Hamilton and he starts to win games are you going to stop watching or cheering for Hamilton? He has 2 million followers in the states. So you are saying that if Manziel comes to Hamilton because of his past no one will wear the Hamilton jersey. Would if they were free. Are you saying most Hamilton tiger cats or all his followers would refuse to wear one because of his past. He has moved on from his past and is helping himself. Why don’t you move on to the present

John, John, John…are you doing weed right now? I didn’t say, or insinuate, any of the things you are flapping about.
Read my post again.
People usually buy jerseys of guys who are their favs, or role models for their kids, or super stars. JM is none of the above…he is a curiosity, and, probably a washed-up former talent. He never excelled as a pro, and even if he has moved past his past, it would take time for him to fit into any of the above-mentioned categories, if ever.
At this point of his dubious career, only his mother would be interested in his jersey/uni.

IF you want to bring him to the CFL he must be your Starter or it will be a gong show (gong show are my words). That means you have to either pay two high QB salaries or bite the bullet and say JM is my guy and we’re riding him to the end of the season.

If the Cats did that, they’re dumber than dumb when they can get decent QB play out of Masoli and they need to rebuild that culture. Johnny is not a guy you want around for an 18 game season plus TC.

It’s long, gruelling work and he’s not shown he really wants to do the work.

Greg do everyone on here including critics of Johnny Manziel where you see Johnny does not want to do the work. I think everyone on here see that he is since his comeback and then some. So tell us all what shies you he is not doing the work.

Now we can wait for Austin, no Tillman, no Burke, no Allemang, no Jones, maybe Mitchell, in consultation with Austin, to arrange a trade with the Als. Reed in turn must turn to his horoscope, make sure the proper synergies are in place, the stars aligned for a completely organic transfer to the Als. This means a small reno to the Stadium ensuring all the stairs are facing away from the stadium playing surface as the open space allows the feng shui energy to rush up quickly to the upper levels thus leaving the playing surface without feng shui. Once resolved, the trade talks can begin & must be culminated on a date with no 4, 5 or 7 in it. The 28th of the month would be ideal. As we are in the year of the DOG, this should not be considered to have any connotations about the Als team in general.

I can’t see him landing down in the American League this year (yes, I know it only takes one team). I agree with the comment that if he comes north, he probably has to be a starter, but not week one. I can see him backing up Masoli for a month. Montreal probably needs him more than Hamilton, but I doubt they want to trade anything valuable to get him – so I’m guessing he really does wind up as a TiCat.

Moving to Espn plus for $5 mo will attract more usa viewers to CFL. As of now Espn3 is bundled in a near $100 cable contract. John would have been here last fall if Randy had not been so slow. He could have wrapped up his investigation by the trade deadline easily. Manz would gave played the last two games as an evaluation like Mtl did with Schilz.

Yeah Bill, European soccer league comparisons are really relevant . Maybe the CFL could have stretcher races as halftime entertainment . Perhaps CFL referees could hand out pink cards to players who violate rules, such as feigning heart attacks during play . Enough already with the soccer talk !

The business and player transfer models are relevant and its FIFA football not soccer. The question was why is the CFL niche? Because you dumb the talent down with national mandates. Successful sports leagues such as NBA, MLB, EPL, NFL, Bundesliga, and NHL go all over the world to find best talent. By coddling Canadian Football players they never do what it takes to get better. Canadian hockey players have to compete against Russians, Slovakian, Swedes with no quotas.

Hope Johnny Manziel keeps working out to get in FOOTBALL SHAPE 100%. Watches a lot of CFL film, has his papers in order to enter Canada and lastly gets signed in time by a CFL team to attend mini camp in addition to a full training camp. He needs all those things to occur to have a good chance for success in the CFL thew next 2 years. I do not see a NFL team signing him at this point. Was OK in the Spring League but not NFL ready for sure.

Jim if he is not selected by NFL team it is not the talent or football readiness. It is the wait and see how committed Manziel is on and off the field to his comeback over a period of time. There is no one that I heard in the media that questions his talent.

If Johnny Manzeil (JM)comes the Hammer he will have to compete with Jermiah Masoli(JM). So if JM beats out JM He will be the starter. But if JM beats out JM he will be the starter. You could then turn JM into a receiver and JM could pass the ball to JM.
Its a win-win

Man, I’m already having major withdrawl symptoms from the ending of the Spring League season! That league is awesome! The stars shine bright in the Spring League for sure like… Johnny Manziel. I can’t think of anybody else at the moment, but I’m sure that there MUST be lots of great talent, or elae how does playing there prove anything, right? 3 Down Nation wouldn’t mislead us would they??

Here’s some good news for everyone. Only 342 days until the start of the 2019 Spring League season! Hoorah!!

Bottom of the barrel. If these guys were on anybody’s radar they’d already have invites to a Pro camp. The majority of these guys were practice roster players in the NFL, early cuts, or guys who are at the end of the road. Most of them would not cut it in the CFL either. I’m sick and tired of people talking about the CFL like it is an inferior product. I watch it because I like it better than NFL football. I like the speed, the wide open play, the small town feel. Manziel can go suck an egg for all I care. I’d much rather see guys who want to be here.